Teen Blogger Has All the Apple Scoops

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Mark Gurman, a writer for 9to5Mac, had the biggest scoops on Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference --- and he was only in high school. So how did he get them? Apparently by being an old-school reporter.

Forbes gushed about Gurman:

He clammed up when I asked him where he gets his stories. But [editor Seth] Weintraub -- who hired Gurman two years ago when he realized the teenager had his finger on Apple's pulse -- was more forthcoming. Some of his stories come from sources inside Apple, but most are based on what used to be called old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting -- poring over Apple's published documents and building a network of Apple developers and parts suppliers that he hammers relentlessly.

Not surprisingly, Gurman is a little concerned that all the attention will make Apple tougher to cover. And others are noticing that the 18-year-old has been getting pretty hefty scoops -- one would-be reporter even called Apple's senior vice president Phil Schiller and asked for information on new products claiming to be Gurman (nice try, guy!)

Gurman is being a good reporter -- finding sources, locating information when it can't be gotten from the original source and scanning documents. It doesn't matter if he's in high school or a 10-year veteran, those skills can make you great.